“live this moment”

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Some of the funny things we do at S.A.M

Labels: love

Labels: celebrations, food, friends

Keith, Happy 25th!!!

After tea at Chinatown... i rushed to Keith's bday party at The Cavern along the road leading to Sembawang Park....

The atmosphere is pretty nice...relaxing and not too noisy..... the food is not too bad.... but the service sucks to the core.... the waitress serving us had 'nemo' memory.... she forgets things instantly.... she mixed up the orders...... and when we say something to her...she will blink and takes 5 seconds to register what we said...and most of the time she got it wrong.... (she being new doesnt make me more forgiving... she is not inexperienced.... she is just blur and not thinking...)ok... so she became the joke of the night...we are not mean ppl... we are some nicest ppl on earth... but she is just being ridiculous... and please dun think she is the only one like that in the pub.... i bet the cashier is also as blur and ......(cant think of a word) .... we ordered 5 main course and one jug of beer... in the end we were only charged for that one jug of beer ($15).....the bill was $16 ++.... ?!!! $16 ++ for 5 main course and one jug of beer?! it is sure a big discount.....

From the money saved...keith treated us to bottles of beer and wines...we bought the drinks, snacks and playing cards from the supermarket and head over to eugene's place... since auntie is off for vacation... we have the whole house to ourselves! they (elaine, thomas, keith and eugene) gambled till 2pm before they called it off....and guess what i was doing? i played cards...maybe 4 rounds.... drank beer and then cook supper for them... sweet right?!

Hope you guys had fun!!!

Labels: celebrations, food, friends

Another day as tour guide.... this time round i roped in Adrian to help me!! Its Katong Time!
This is the part of Singapore that i visit less than 8 times for the last 24 years of my life.....i think even passing by...its less than 15 times.... so gotta do 'homework' before i bring her there.....

We met at Eunos and cabbed to the famous katong laksa.... each ordered a bowl and as lissy cant take spicy stuff..... i took her chilli and asked her to go easy with the gravy.... personally i dun really like the katong version of laksa... i mean i find it a tad too bland... prefer the original version better..... lissy find it spicy but managed to finish 3/4 of it....(with the help of 1 bottle of water)... i'm not too impressed with what i ate...so i dun expect her to...

When we passed by this really small and ordinary looking shop selling the tau sah piah.... adrain stopped and told us that it is actually quite famous also.... so yup... we tried it... something new for lissy.... i guess she quite like it... frankly..i dun know why its famous.... nth too special... and they dun even have a signboard...

Next we walked to Kim Choo Kueh.....and by it side is Rumah Kim Choo, bought a small nonya dumpling and shared...pretty yummy...and i think the mini dumpling is a good size for tourists....this way they can try more flavors without getting bloated... went to Rumah Kim Choo and found some really pretty nonya stuff there.... nice to look at only...cuz pretty ex..... lissy spotted this love seeds....' xiang si dou' and when i told her what that means... she bought it for marc..(her bf)... kinda sweet.... when an ang moh believes something that is so cheena (china)....

we then go to one more rumah...but its super cramp and things are not as nice as Rumah Kim Choo so we decided to head to Katong Antique... its said to be a 'must' to visit if one goes to to katong.... got the address wrong so took quite a little effort and asking around before we get to the place... BUT!! The tour in Katong Antique, led by Mr Peter Wee is chargeable and will last for 45 mins..... we gotta give it a miss cuz adrian rushing off...and lissy and i like to visit Uncle Cheong later... so another time then....

we took a can again...(its very very hot ok..) and while we were on the cab...i felt vibration at my butt area.... it a phone... thought its lissy... but its not...so who's? its the last passenger one la...
picked up the call and assure them their phone is safe and the cab driver will deliver it back later....what an episode.... luckily they met me....

Adrian left to go sing Jap K... and Lissy and I head over to Chinatown to visit Uncle Cheong... he owns an antique shop along Chinatown and we chanced upon his shop when we visit the last time... after knowing we like to try Chinese tea...he invited us to his second level and set up his full tea table to make tea for us..... over tea he shared with us his knowledge on tea and chinese culture, his humble attitude and generosity wowed me... we promised to visit again..and so i'm back with lissy.... we bought him some chinese cakes...(cuz he refused when i wanna pay him for the tea...expensive tea ..not cheap cheap ones...) and he was happy to see us... it was another 2 rounds of tea..... long chats and his sharing on Jade, wood and chinese calligraphy..... if not for keith's bday party in the night...i really wished i could stay on and learn more from him.... we promised to visit again....maybe he doesnt know... but he makes chinatown a more attractive place for me.... and i guess the same applies to lissy.

Labels: friends

Joey loves Germany.... Joey loves Beer.... Joey loves???? German Beer!


it was another night out with maia and lissy....this time round...bj (maia's husband- to- be) joined the fun!!! i thought it will be nice for lissy to have something german here..... and since i like Paulaner.... i thought that might be a cool place to bring her to... and i cant be more right!!!

Dinner was at BAB Noodles... its like one of my fave place for dinner/chillouts in city hall area.... i dun know where can i find better food and atmosphere at such at economical price.... so it was a nice dinner...guess everyone was satisfied and then we moved to Paulaner...which is just a few step away..... it was there that my german class started...i learned how to pronounce the name of the beer... and some other common words....like asshole... shit...gd morning blah blah... i learned that we should not order the beer big jugs (cuz it will not be fresh if we gonna drink slowly) and when we say "pros" a.k.a "cheers" we have to look into each others eyes... if not will have 7 years of bad sex...

I love the Munich Lager!!! More please!

There are many oct babies in my gang.... other than me...there's elaine and keith...*only thomas is born in Sept....so...who is after me?! Elaine!! Like me, she also treated us to this old school restaurant for dinner....but according to thomas, this is a cantonese restaurant.... the prices were steeper here but i thought the food was also pretty good! the two most interesting thing there were... the very ancient looking toilet signs and the 3 mins birthday song they blasted using the sound system...... the toilet sign is those that i saw when i was 3 to 5 yr old.....after that...no more!!! i dun think i will ever see it in singapore of not for this dinner.........i took the photos not because i work in world toilet organization ok.... i took it cuz its so rare now.... and i thought it look pretty...like those props you will see in Wong Kar Wai's movie....

After dinner, we cabbed down to AMK..... its been some time since we last sang.... so everyone is kinda rusty....took sometime to warm up and finally when we are at the last one hour....everyone starts to sing better and getting into the mood...but boy....its too late..only left one hour....

Introducing Auntie Eugene.... please dun say this is an imitation of Auntie Lucy....cuz auntie eugene started coming out once in awhile 2 years back.... if i'm not wrong...it was after the first yr we were together... then on and off...eugene soon will be auntie eugene...having his pinky up when he pick up phone....hold a cup blah blah.... Auntie eugene came visit when i brought eugene soon to the STAND UP FOR POVERTY event... we were leaving the event and going for elaine's bday... and suddenly... at the middle of tanjong pagar..... he transformed...and readily posed for me.... so here you are.... auntie eugene!

Deepavali cum farewell dinner for Melanie.......

hate goodbyes...but i guess if i was her...i would do the same..... gonna miss having you in the office..... no one is gonna ask "how are u?" when i come into the office anymore ;(

Thanks guys....the dinner wasnt to my liking but the company so good!!!

island getaway!!! we have a new colleague at WTO....*Drum roll....... Elisabeth from Germany!!! to make our job easier, we could address her as Lissy and so this will be how i'm gonna address here from now on...as many of you know.... i'm a huge fan of Hitler and Germany..... and so i'm really excited having her around!! She will be here with us for 4 months and focuses on BOP market.....she travels here alone and had no one here...so maia and me decided to be that 'someone' for her during her stay here... to make life here more interesting, we brought her out to experience Singapore....Maia brought her to little india and chjimes..but due to some health probs.... i missed that..... to make it up, i brought these two foreigners together with ronald (maia's friend...also a Filipino) to Pulau Ubin!

BTW...This happened right after the ktv party we had.... I slept at 3am...

So met them at Tanah Merah Station...cabbed to changi ferry terminal and was shocked to see the new upgraded terminal...it is definitely newer and cleaner...but i hate the new look....still prefer the old jetty.... took a ferry over for $2.50 (luckily the ferry is still the old and noisy one...)and within 15 mins...we arrived at Pulau Ubin. did some short intro and a few jump shots at the"welcome to pulau ubin" signboard and went over to rent some bicycles..... we each had a bicycle for $7-$8 (whole day) and our exploration began.... cuz the island is small.... we did without a map and just followed the route....and the route brought us to the entrance of Chek Jawa...understood that that tide is coming in and we might not see as much as we should.... but we still went anyway.... the trail was challenging....maia and me disembarked several times to push our bicycle....and after about 15 mins of pain...we reached the real entrance of Chek Jawa... we were brief by the guide and decided to climbed that 4 storeys high viewing deck..... i seriously dun know how that can be 4 storeys high.... it is way higher in my opinion.... we took some corny photos up there..rested then went for the mangrove walk....the walk is kinda short...but we took quite a number of photos..... had a short rest at this small hut...think its the visitors centre and then off we ride our way back...the route is easier....cuz the up slopes became down slopes ;p
did a little more cycling and head over to the beach....chatted...complained about "you know who" and enjoyed the singing at the background (some guys and girls having a retreat or sth).... then decided to head back to Singapore....

I sure had a good workout...... hope the foreigners like this part of singapore.... cuz this is the part i love...

Singapore graduation ceremony was on Oct 10, almost 10 months after our graduation ceremony in Oklahoma City..... i dun understand why is there such a delay.... but the whole point of Singapore's ceremony is for family members in Singapore to witness our graduation.....the ceremony was held in Ritz Carlton Hotel..... brought mommy along for reporting cuz she was afraid she dun know the way to the hotel if she come alone in the noon... so she followed me there early in the morning...met angela at city hall and cabbed there... started cam whoring a little then went for a lame briefing.....did a lame rehearsal...and we went for robing.... mommy being mommy starts to iron my robe...again....(she ironed it just this morning)... then she spotted Adrian's wrinkled robe.....and insist on ironing for him... so there she go......all the helpers that MDIS got lost their job cuz mommy was so efficient.... then she helped us all with the robing and hat.....busy like a bee....thanks mommy!!!! fai was called for mobilization......i dun know how drama it can get.....mobilization on your grad day?! but luckily he managed to do the reporting after the ceremony ends.... hehe... so once the robes were on us...second round of cam whoring started.....
eugene soon came for a short while for a photo opportunity.....had a pic of him and me with mommy.... and then he became a star....everyone took turn to take photo with him... i dun know why...... just before he left.... he bought angela, jac and me each a graduation bear.generous wor.... Jacinta too gave me my birthday pressie...its a bear...and has a name...'blessings'... thanks babe!!! and not to forget..there's angela's present....a novel that i really love!!!

The ceremony was long...and boring.....i think it took about 2 hours 30 mins....and once its over... we ate like hungry ghost.....mommy took food for me and i finished it within 3 mins.... i just dun feel filled up.....once we feel fuller...we went to take the "throw hat" photos.....we did it indoor with the help of professional photographers.... we didnt throw our hats in oklahoma...so this time die die must throw....

After grad...its time for my bday party again...this is the last 24th party....and we had it at Liang Courts's Party World..... all came except Jac....Fai rushed down after he was done with reporting and Serene came with a red packet for me!!! then...a night of making merry started....i dun know how many songs we sang......but i think we covered all genre..... disney...rock...blues....you named it..we did it.... the girls went crazy and high earlier and at the end..the guys started to get high....it was not singing...it was i dun know what?! Finally at 2am...we did our version of 'You raised me up" in opera....and ended the night with hoarse voice.......thanks babes and hunks!!! i love you guys...we ROCK!!

And then..... it was 8th Oct!!! I'm officially 24!! happily 24 years old!!

No la... i'm happy cuz this is the day i receive my "princess-y" treatment from you know who lah.... i'm not saying that he doesnt treat me well normally..but on my bday he is exceptionally sweet and exceptionally giving.... i was actually kinda worried he will forget my birthday or not make any "special"plans..... cuz he is super duper busy and occupied by his fitness gourmet biz.... i think his mind is like 150% on that..... i was already getting ready to pick up a fight with him...my lines are even prepared...LUCKILY... this bf did his job...and did it so well that i can find no reason to complain.... met him in the noon and went to do some shopping.....for him?! yup...for him.... he forgot to bring out his "handsome" suit... so we gotta go shopping for him to look handsome so we can go for nice nice dinner.....first stop... we went to Ngee Ann City to get my pressie...and for him to shop....my pressie this yr was Blackberry Storm!! its like super cool.....and its even cooler when i dun have to pay a single cent to own it...this is like the 3rd phone i got from... please dun think that he is unromantic... its just that i'm kinda practical.... i choose my pressie...haha.... but sadly...the singtel shop at ngee ann has no more stock...so we have to go to ComCenter and get it... the queue is bloody long......heard from them that Iphone just got restock on the 7th... so everyone is there to get there Iphone... WTH! waited for 45 mins...and baby took the time to do some work....(with my permission.... told you he will be nice and sweer that day)...then after 45 mins and some signatures on the contract...i got my black berry!!!!!!!! its made in Hungary okay....dun play play....haha.....

Then rushed to Centrepoint... he got his nice nice top..i got the white long sleeves for my grad ceremony...happy! Then it is to my surprise dinner place....Fullerton Hotel!!! this was the part that blown me away....... he booked a table at Light House (at the highest level of Fullerton) and have us seated infront of a spectacular view...i was so touch and overwhelmed by the view...the atmosphere for the place... it is just so nice...so right...we placed our orders....and then went to the rooftop....the view is like "WOW"...PICTURE PERFECT! Romance was in the air and i was breathing in love the whole time i was up there.... took some really pretty photos....(check out my FB acct for clearer pics) we stayed long enuff for the waiter to come ask us down for our food....

1. Food was yummy to the max....... the appetizer was Tuna Capaccio.... it is nicely presented ....too pretty to eat.... but we ate it anyway..... then there was a second appetizer.... rissoto with foie gras....this is the best thing i had .....and eugene and i were literally fighting over this dish.... but cuz its my b'day... he let me have more... haha...his main course was farm chicken and mine was wagyu beef.... we shared everything and there's nothing we can complain about...... dessert was this ice cream like cake..... we dun know what it is..its a special taste...but in a nice way....

Then there was this extra rich chocolate mousse cake that they prepared specially for bday... they dun have cake on their menu...so its like an special order.... yummy but heavy....good to share it...

2.Service
They are the best host i've seen and i totally enjoyed their semi formal service! there are definitely very professional and has the standard of a fine dining restaurant... but at the same time they are friendly and humorous till a point of entertaining.... they wanted to sing a birthday song for me... the place is like a fine dining place.... and i feel shy la..so plead them not to......now i kinda regret my decision.... :( some interest things that happened..and i like to remember it..an inert fell from my menu when i opened it...and before it touches the ground....the manager caught it calmly and gently give it back to me..."this always happens" he said with a smile...?!?! he knows kongfu or what? that was fast and he did it so calmly.... then the next thing is there was a tissue on the floor... this 50 over year old waiter, gentle did a "somewhat squatting " action in like 1/2 second and next thing i know the tissue is in his hand...it was swift as lightning and as gentle as a contemporary dancer.... this is no joke ok.....we were seriously impressed...dead impressed....

i would love to come back here again.... and for those who are thinking equinox has better view...food and service....sorry...i beg to differ.... equinox is so high up...everything you see also so tiny-winy....then the service kinda make me uneasy...hate people staring at me and standing so near me when i eat..(their service is good but not personal)... as for the food... i was still super hungry after the full set meal...still those are my opinions....

Eugene soon asked them about the cost of booking the whole place for some stuff....its kinda expensive but i think i'll gladly pay for it cuz i really love this place......this is by far the best bday experience he has given me.......thanks bf!

3.bf.

Bf was really sweet the whole day and i love him to bits!!!




my 24th!!! I feel great being 24..... unlike last year.... i actually dun feel older or start to be very aware of my age.....i hope i will feel this way for my many many more birthdays down the road...

The celebration kicked start on the 6th in WTO office! We had a staff meeting that day and so most people came....and naturally i shall have it on that day. It was more like a potluck party....everyone brought something to share... maia bought my fave awfully choc cake.... melanie brought "poop" cones...(chocolate ice cream), Jenny brought some chinese almond cookies, Lissy brought her precious german sweets... as a host, i brought my home-cooked pasta and mash potatoes!!! I think we more or less cleared all the stuff that day..only the ice cream cone became a comfort food for our many noons after that....Thanks for the wonderful mini celebration!!!
Then it was celebration with buddies!!!went to this "cheena- wayang"...old school hokkien restaurant for my b'day dinner...... it is along Jalan Besar...called "Quan Xiang Yuan"... quite a famous place serving traditional hokkien cuisines.. went there earlier with thomas to try out their famous "black" hokkien noodle and it was so good that i decided that this will be the place for my bday treat! It seems like i made the right choice cause the food we had were really tasty..and taste so "old school"...its like what we had when we were kids..... reminded me of the hungry ghost festival "jia tou" (banquet) i used to go with my grandpa..... ordered quite a lot of dishes..... but the one that won the hearts of the gluttons......is the hokkien noodle! In second place will be the yam ring and third will be that "pipa" duck...all very old school banquet dishes.. the tables were covered by pink table cloth.... drinks were served in these clear drinking glass and tea in tea cups..then they have their pink tissue with red logo folded into triangular shape and are stuffed in the glassed before the drinks are poured.. it super old school lor..... i think only malaysians and singaporeans know what i'm talking about....as if i planned this theme.....(NO..I REALLY DIDNT), Jia Xin made me a bday cake that is super old school too...(ok la...beofre my bf starts to complain...he was the one who ordered the cake for me....).... not those chocolate cake or strawberry cake (i mean the sponge cake) that is so common everywhere.... it is vanilla/milk? sponge cake...and was in a shape of a moo-moo....(cow)... it such a darling and this is the second time i had a "cow cake"...the first time was when i turned one month old? or one yr old.... must go dig the photo.... back to jia xin's cake.... its so cute that all the aunties (waitresses) came crowding ard the table.....and i heard them guessing...."is it cow?" ..."no la...its pig"...."dog la".. its super funny.....i think its not jia xin's prob.... its the aunties' judgment problem..... the taste is so old school....very different from the ones i had for the past 23 years..... but my very muscular bf...mr eugene soon...was so powerful that he broke the neck of the cow.... the head and the body detached event before we reached the dinner place..... but luckily it still look nice in the picture...... so he was forgiven...and the day ended well....

jiaxin's cake shop: http://jincakes.com/

Came back to Singapore from Bangkok, rested one day and off i go to Aceh, Meulaboh.... This time round, i was supposed to go close the program.... it was a huge success and am really grateful to this new team for making this possible..... the original team resigned shortly after i returned.... citing that they felt that the Singapore office were not too supportive (other than juliah's support)... well... i already flew there.... spent 3 days with them.... talked and laughed.... but maybe they felt that it came too late... so they played us out..... let the program hanging....and poor juliah has to help find and put tog a new team for implementation. From this project, i learned that it can be really hard if I dun speak the local language..... Taufik was the only one who speaks english... though not as good...but i felt comfortable having someone who understand what i'm saying...maybe not 100% but 70% of the time...i believe in communication and this time ound it just didnt work that well for the rest of the 3 members on the new team..... i really cant establish much with them.....

Maia accompanied me this time round..... i dun know if i really can do this without her.... its more of the emotional support i needed..... i cant speak the language... i hate that small jet... i have to conclude the project...... its not too much for me...but i'm just not too keen to do it alone.....luckily she was with me through out.... the trip was a busy and tiring one...packing, moveing, distributing... and it was just nice during the fasting month.... so we can eat all the time... food can only be bought after 630pm or so.... so imagine.....

We managed to finish distributing the hygiene kits and educational materials after slogging for two whole day...met Ignacio... this really interesting Spanish guy from Spanish Red Cross with Iqbal over a glass of Avocado on the last night at Kopi Aceh... the mostly male only cafe... it was a nice way to end the trip.... bye bye Meulaboh.... i will miss your beauty and the people....

*the small jet did not give us too much problem.... the only "scary " thing was...the alarm kept going off for stupid reason when we are doing landing...and it continues after we landed safely....

Bangkok Shopping Trip!!

It was a intense shopping trip for my dear tanna..... i'm not too sure how much we have walked in that 3 days.... what is the total load of our shopping bags... but one thing for sure... our feets hurt like mad.... our arms were bruised....and tanna was trying to find a place to seat in our shop we visited.... haha....we had our foot massaged on the first night... it was $6 for one hour and 15 mins..... feet, leg and shoulder..... i dun know how good it can get... but i was thinking about it the whole time when i'm back in sinagpore.....

We stayed at Baiyoke Hotel this time round, the location is pretty good.... its just a stone throw to Platinum Mall and the main shopping district is just 5 mins away by taxi... if we ever got lost.... we just have to look up and there we will see our tall tall hotel....it is like the tallest building in Bangkok!The room is huge and it comes with a walk in wardrobe...generally i was quite pleased with the room but tanna said that on the first night she felt something pressing her down when she tried to sleep..... :o

Another plus point is the breakfast spread..... its super yummy and there's so much to choose from....if i'm not wrong, it sits on the highest level of the hotel, some 83 storeys high.... i dun have a thing for heights but, tanna loves it...she likes looking at the view while sipping 5 glasses of her fav fresh fruit juice....

Back to shopping... we shopped at all the main malls...and night markets..... the amount of barang barang we bought was crazy.... the amount of money we spent was crazy..... but who cares... i'm crazily happyily shopping.... continuously amazed but how much 4SGD can get me!!!
I'm sure Tanna was satisfied too.... cuz she went with a 98% empty suitcase and got back with 120% filled case.... overweight!!!

*my personal favorite shopping spot is Suan Lum Night Market..... it may not be super cheap.... but the designs are definitely very attractive!!

Now comes the food.... we ate quite a lot to compensate for the intense workout we had.... you name it... we had it.... for my fave... its still Som Tam... the papaya salad.... i just cant get enuff of it!!! Tanna love the noodles and soupy stuff... maybe cuz she was not really feeling very well during the trip...*not sure if its due to that "something" that hinder her sleep on the first night......

One more next year!!! lets save up!!

Recommended: Suan Lum Night Market, Baiyoke Hotel, Platinum Mall





Cambodia, Siem Reap - 28th July - 30th July

Day one...
I was up super early....the sky was still dark when i board the plane and it was on the plane that i came to realise that my first adventure is about to begin.... with me.. i only have my Mr Gentleman (teddy bear) and he will be the "one" i can turn to should anything goes wrong....

AND IT DID WENT WRONG... THE VERY MOMENT I STEPPED OUT OF THE AIRPORT!!

My adventure goes like this..... i came out of the airport and i thought the safest thing to do was to hire a cab from the airport to my hotel.......and since the hotel is 10 minutes from the airport, nothing too bad can happen.... GOD.... I WAS SO WRONG...

I presented my hotel voucher to the taxi concierge and was told that i should opt for a motorcycle cuz i only have a small bag and it will save me more money that way.... so...i ended up with a motorcyclist... walking to the motorcycle.... he introduced himself...*i forgotten his name.... and told me that he earns very little as a driver....next he asked if i had any plans made to visit angkor wat......and when i said no... he suggested taking me out in the evening to watch the sunset at angkor wat and will be my tour guide for the day.... all these were said and suggested while we stood beside his motorcycle....... i was kinda helpless.....but gather enuff courage to tell him we can discuss this on the way to the hotel.....and so he finally started the engine...... as what i expected, he kept pushing me his service throughout the journey ....the 10 mins journey became 20 mins and i was getting nervous about it..... i reckon he was making circles and till i said yes... he will not take me to the hotel..... so i made the second mistake and agreed to take up his service to see the sunset at angkor wat.....and within 2 mins, i reached my hotel... he greeted me good bye and told me to meet him at 4pm at the hotel lobby... i started to regret......
Checking in to my hotel was a breeze, the staffs were nice and the room i had was huge....... i even had my own balcony.....after taking a rest, i flipped through the hotel brochure and saw that they offer trips to angkor wat as well... it comes with a van and a translator..... i thought it sounds better and safer than me going out on a motor, with a desperate guy that cant speak good english.... so i decided to book the hotel trip instead and have the receptionist to inform the guy when he comes pick me up at 4pm that i am sorry and cant take his service.... THIRD MISTAKE!!!
i was feeling happy about my decision, i felt so much safer and at ease.....and so i went walking around to explore the old market and central market..... after lunch, i took a pink tuk tuk back to the hotel... the driver was polite and soft spoken and when he ask if i like to visit the floating market, i said yes almost immediately..... ANOTHER MISTAKE...... in order to not clash with the motorcyclist... i told the tuk tuk driver that we could meet at 5pm..... i thought that will be safer and by then the motorcyclist would have left.... FIFTH MISTAKE.....
i showered, called the reception and reminded them to cancel the motorcyclist if he comes looking for me..... i will be willing to pay him USD2 (I promised him 4 originally for the service) as an apology..... at 5pm, when i went to the hotel lobby..... i know i was in deep shit.... on my left was the motorcyclist....on my right was the tuk tuk... the motorcyclist was so mad that he came up to him and hurled some really vulgar words at me... i tried to explain that i felt that the tuk tuk was safer for me...and i am sincerely apologetic for canceling him.... i was ready to give him the USD2 compensation for the one hour wait, at the same time i also made it clear to him that i will not use his service no matter what... He went crazy and keep shouting and saying that i went back on my words...(c'mon... you force me to take up your service....) and at one point he got so agitated that he grabbed my arms..... i felt that i was at a disadvantage.... so i suggested to settle this in the hotel lobby with the help of the hotel staff.
The hotel staff tried to calm the guy and explain to him that i already gave them instructions to cancel him in the morning and they cant reach him cuz he was a new registered driver....and so they dun have his contact details..... as if he dun get a single word..... he continue ranting and hurling vulgarities... and became aggressive... i offered to pay him 4USD to settle this issue but... this guy refused and demanded 5! i was angry and refused.....in the end the hotel forked out the additional 1usd and chase him out.....
I was feeling lost after the whole episode and was wondering if it is still safe for me to travel to the floating village..... the hotel staff assured me and gave instructions to the tuk tuk driver to take good care of me....and so i went... SIXTH MISTAKE!
the moment i got out of the hotel gate....this motorcyclist followed...he drive alongside and came so close to me...with his broken english... he said f**k you, cheap tourist! you made me unhappy. i will make you unhappy, i know when you check out, you be careful!
I asked the tuk tuk to turn back to the hotel and demanded that the hotel call the police..... this guy is simply mad! the hotel was nice and sent their CFO, Mr Phear to assure me... he spoke to the police, took me to see if i can have an earlier flight back etc... he also arranged for a guard, a van, a translator and a driver for me for my next day sightseeing.... No additional charge on top of what i have paid.... for the rest of day one, i can only stay in my room with door locked, swiss army knife by my bed.... good thing i have mr gentleman with me.....eugene soon was totally freaked.... i gotta report to him every two hour to let him know i'm ok....mummy was kept from this....this really sounds like an adventure...


Day 2...

Went for cooking class in the morning in the van, with my "entourage" i was kinda scared to see him somewhere..... but the guard seemed to be more uptight about that..... he is sensitive to me doing two things....one, when i stare at a spot for too long... he will get nervous and asked the translator if i spotted the man..... two.. when i take out my camera, he will stay far from me....cuz he cant be in pictures when he is in uniform... so he will hide and hide.... took motorbike to the old market with my pastry chef to the old market to get the ingredients...... he was amused by my entourage and kept making fun of me being a "princess" out in the market..... i felt sorry cuz those illegal hawker ran the moment they saw my guard...no earnings for them for the day.... sorry..... back to the school, the chefs kept telling me that cambodians are nice people....the one i met was just one of the black sheep among the whites....they offered to beat him up if he appear.... nice one!
I enjoyed the cooking but not the eating..... prefer thai food over khmer food...its like the milder version of thai food....less spicy....gave the food to my "entourage"...nothing much i can offer them.....
Then it was off to angkor wat..... I dun know if i can do a good job at describing the place....but it was a beauty and definitely a place to visit before one can die...haha....i sound crazy here...but i'm serious.... and you have to go with a guide to understand the structure, the history and meaning behind it....
Ankor wat is majestic...... and i guess i should stop here...the rest is for you to find out....
GO CAMBODIA...GO SIEM REAP..GO ANGKOR WAT.....

hotel i stayed in is : Day Inn Hotel, now its renamed as Royal Bay Inn Hotel, http://www.royalbayinnangkor.com/



Indonesia - Aceh, Meulaboh

this is my first time to indonesia but its not to some big cities (even though i transited at Medan)... my destination is Aceh, Meulaboh, the place that appeared on the news 5 years ago when the Tsunami struck. It was a short trip, just 3 days 2 nights but maybe it was due to the fact that it was too short and the place brought about so much feelings in me..... i was kinda suffering from "culture shock"...not when i was there...but when i was about to board the plane back home... i dun know how to define how i was feeling then....so i termed it as culture shock for now.....there was this fear.... this insecurity.... this realization..... its so mixed up that i gave up trying to define it.....
Meulaboh is a beautiful place..... the sky is so blue and it felt like if i stretch my hands long enuff, i can touch it..... the trees are so green that it formed a scenic picture against the blue blue sky.... there were animals roaming around...... people walk slowly.....food was simple..... everything just matches...and i cant help to feel that i was standing out, with my bright color clothes...my loud voice, my dyes hair, my quick steps........ its is not city vs countryside... it is man made vs natural....This is definitely not a typical tourist spot... but i'm glad i came and saw what i saw....

*went to the tsunami site "ground zero", the wave was huge..... i cant imagine how huge and high it was when the tsunami struck. it was just a sad and helpless feeling when i was there trying to visualize what the villagers saw.